Supreme Court

Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. told a federal appellate court that President Obama respects the Supreme Court's power to interpret the constitutionality of the nation's law, adding that the president's recent comments about the healthcare reform law were "fully consistent" with established judicial precedent. His three-page letter Thursday came after Judge Jerry E. Smith of the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans criticized Obama for comments that the judge said questioned whether the courts have the power to invalidate acts of Congress.

The U.S. Supreme Court did not address the California gay-marriage case on Monday morning. The next time they can consider it is on Friday. The case against Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California, had been discussed by justices last Friday, but was not on the list of cases the court said it would review. Many speculated that the court might have decided not to take the case, which would let an appeals court ruling on the matter stand.

Major cases before the Supreme Court this fall Human rights: Can victims of human rights abuses abroad sue the accused perpetrators in U.S. courts? Since the 1980s, lawyers representing victims of torture, rape and murder abroad, including in Paraguay, Mexico and Nigeria, have sued in American courts. The justices are debating whether to throw out all these claims because the abuses took place outside U.S. territory. (Kiobel vs. Royal Dutch Petroleum, Oct. 1) College admissions: Can a rejected white applicant sue a state university for considering race as an admissions factor?

WASHINGTON - Advocates and opponents of same-sex marriage unfurled banners and handed out American flags on the Supreme Court steps Tuesday morning as the justices prepared to hear arguments over Proposition 8, the California initiative that banned gay marriage. Mike Krzywonos, 57, took a bus to Washington from Rhode Island to stand in front of the court and defend the idea of marriage as being only between a man and woman. "We are the silent majority," said Krzywonos, a retired factory machinist, his breath coming out in puffs in the crisp morning air. He held a banner that read: "Faith Alliance to Preserve the Sanctity of Marriage as Established by God: Just because you don't get it does not give you the right to change it. " Krzywonos hopes the justices uphold California's ban, blunting initiatives to legalize same-sex unions in other states, including his own. PHOTOS: Supreme Court considers gay marriage "If we don't fix this, this country is going down the tube fast," he said.

Liberal professor Cornel West was one of 19 people arrested on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Sunday, according to the Associated Press, as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. West, a former Harvard University professor now teaching at Princeton University, took part Sunday in the dedication of the monument to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., an event that was delayed from August because of Hurricane Irene. He then, according to media reports, moved on to a protest at the home of the high court.

President Obama said again Tuesday that it has been a long time since the Supreme Court struck down an economic law passed by Congress, but he mixed up the decisions and their timing. “We have not seen a court overturn a law that was passed by Congress on an economic issue, like healthcare, that I think most people would clearly consider commerce,” the president said. “A law like this has not been overturned at least since Lochner. Right? So we're going back to the '30s, pre-New Deal.” Actually, that's wrong.

Washington - The Supreme Court made clear Monday it is not willing to closely review the claims of the remaining Guantanamo Bay detainees, as the justices turned down appeals from seven inmates without comment. The court has left it to the Obama administration and federal judges in Washington to decide whether the detainees can be held indefinitely as military prisoners. Advocates for the detainees said they were disappointed. “The court has effectively abandoned its commitment to ensuring that individuals held in long-term detention at Guantanamo obtain meaningful review of their imprisonment,” said Jonathan Hafetz, a law professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

As reported earlier today by the Times , the Supreme Court continued its deliberations on President Obama's sweeping healthcare reforms, focusing on whether striking the entire law down would be feasible, and what the fallout would be were the court to take such a drastic action. Similar to Tuesday's proceedings, the Justices didn't fail to keep the pressure on both sides of the debate, keeping the heat on both Edwin Kneedler, deputy solicitor general, and Paul Clement, arguing against the law. Follow below for some of the standout clips from the Supreme Court as it continues to weigh the pressures of deciding the future of healthcare.

After eight years and millions of dollars in legal fees, CBS emerged victorious in its fight with the Federal Communications Commission over pop star Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl. On Friday, the Supreme Court refused to hear the FCC's request to reinstate a $550,000 indecency fine against CBS for the halftime performance featuring Jackson and singer Justin Timberlake, who at the end of the song "Rock Your Body" tore a piece of Jackson's top, briefly exposing her breast to an audience of about 90 million.

WASHINGTON - With the Supreme Court's 2011-2012 term rapidly coming to a close, the release of a decision on the constitutionality of President Obama's sweeping healthcare law is imminent - but it won't be today. The justices issued their latest set of decisions on Monday morning and the healthcare ruling wasn't among them. The case is being closely monitored by both the legal and political communities, as the healthcare industry, government officials at the state and federal levels and many more.